How to Grill Over a Venison Skull

Charcoal is charcoal, right? Well, apparently not, because artisanal/heritage/boutique charcoal is fast becoming a resource of high-end restaurants, at least according to Grub Street. This could mean anything from simply replacing Kingsford briquets with something more rarified, like Hawaiian "Ono" charcoal, to actually producing your own versions. Which is where things start to get really interesting. You can make charcoal from bones, even. Yes, Blue Hill's Dan Barber has lately been making his from "mussel shells, lamb bones, lobster shells, corn cobs, pig femurs, and venison skulls." You go about this by loading all of your organic material into a big, steel drum and getting it very hot for a very long time. The jury's still out as to whether bone charcoal really has any inherently great flavor qualities (Barber says yes; chef Floyd Cardoz is among those who say no), and the process of making it is so energy-intensive that it's hard to claim any environmental advantages. But still, a leg of lamb roasted over charred lamb femurs? Sounds pretty good.